Star Trek Photo Manipulation Archive

For artwork, photomanipulations, and stories related to Star Trek

Forum rules
1.) This is a game, and games are made to be fun. Please do not post any material which may offend others or disrupt the flow of the game.
2.) Communication over comm should be located within brackets [ ]. Out of character or OOC comments should be located within parentheses ( ). Telepathic communications, thoughts, emphasis, and starship names should be italicized.
3. Players are expected to post in-character at least once a week. If there is time needed off, please contact Joshawott, so he can place your character on a leave of absence.
4. Leave posts open-ended for someone else to easily reply to.
5.) HAVE FUN!!!

"Mind the mess, Captain!," the Chief Engineer called out in response. "And don't be afraid to grab a mop!"

He looked at his console before calling out with annoyance. "And where the bloody hell is that guy who calls himself a "science officer"? I need precise readings from the anomaly if this is gonna work!"

'Down to two ships,' he thought. 'Maybe we can use the Cardassian shuttles as well..."

Tam saw McCormack and walked over to him, patting him briskly on the shoulders. "Michael, young man, I need you to get a hold of your girlfriend again."

"She's not my girlfriend!," the Security Chief sputtered.

"Sure, she isn't. Now I need you to have her bring her ship closer into the ship's shield envelope. Our combined energy field will help lessen these chroniton bursts. Then... tell her l'll need her shuttles."

"Shuttles?"

"Do I need to write this down for you? Then, tell your girlfriend that--"

"SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND!"

Tam stared at him for a moment. He took a deep breath and exhaled. "Michael, young man, I've lived nine lifetimes. I have been both male and female. I know when people are attracted to one another."

He paused, before adding," It's either that or the Captain."

Michael stared back at the Trill as he returned to his job.

Tam looked over at Lieutenant Riojj, smiling at the pretty Boslic. "Well, hello there, Riojj. Finally decided to join in on the fun, eh? Well, have we have some work ahead of us!"

"All of Time and Space; everywhere and anywhere; every star that ever was. Where do you want to start?"

"Geronimo!"

Thanks to FltCpt. Bossco for my Tattok avatar. This is Tattok when he assumed the position of Commander-in-Chief, Starfleet in the year 2411.

Captain Dawnter mourned in a very unique way; he tortured himself. Of course he did not physically harm himself, but he felt a certain since of closure if he inflicted emotional distress after focusing everything down into numbers. Numbers that of course were just a representation of lost lives, numbers that would never own up to the destructions this temporal anomaly was creating. The reports rolled in, and he kept a list. One hundred twenty Klingon soldiers are unaccounted for; presumably dead. Eighty-three Romulans are dead. Twenty-four Starfleet officers are injured, thirteen are dead.

A tear rolled down his cheek. You don't fuck around with time. Starfleet should listen to Temporal Investigations.

He felt helpless; something a Captain should never feel. A Captain should feel strong, confident, powerful. Maybe the voices in the back of his mind were right. Maybe he should've turned down his promotion during the Dominion War. Maybe he shouldn't have become a commanding officer when he was thirty-six. Maybe he should've remained a counselor on an infamous starship doing the dirty work of the Federation.

But Joshua didn't like the word "maybe." He liked closure. He needed closure. There was no since in asking what-ifs in the chief engineer's office. The numbers have him closure.

Joshua wasn't used things falling apart around him. He lived a rather fortunate life so far, despite the prior discrepancies he mentioned in his captaincy. First his husband left him, then his first officer was injured to the point where they were unfit for duty, and now this stupid mission was costing the lives of innocent individuals simply wanting to explore; learn more about our galaxy.

He gave a slight delay in his return to engineering, allowing his moist eyes to dry, showing no signs of weakness. He was a good Captain, he reassured himself. "With a damn fine crew," he said aloud.

As his steps were heard on the bottom section of engineering, echoing off of the acoustic walls, Captain Dawnter found the initiative that usually drove him. "Status on the shuttles? Remind me of the procedure again, who will man them?"

Happiness can be found, even in the darkest times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.

"Status on the shuttles? Remind me of the procedure again, who will man them?" Captain Dawnter asked as he emerged from his temporary ready room.

There was a beat of silence, so Riojj was able to step in before anyone else could answer. "I can link the controls of all the shuttles into just one system, preferably one that could cope with the extra data requirements--such as the yacht. It could relay controls to all the shuttle simultaneously, though the yacht would need to be manned, so as to make the necessary course corrections, control the link-up with the shuttles, and monitor power emissions. I'd need two others."

The Ensign who was previously on the bridge stood at attention, emerging from the makeshift helm station with her typical blank stare. She was an excellent pilot, and he needed her during such a crisis; her emotions would not envelop her like they just did Dawnter.

"Listen, up," he raised his voice, which carried through the large room, only defened by the low hum of the warp core, "I'm leaving Commander Tam in charge, you are now all engineers; do as you're told. McCormack, I'm sorry... Your role as second officer is being revoked for a second. Nothing personal."

Her turned to Zaeryn, "Let's go."

Happiness can be found, even in the darkest times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.

Tam's mouth literally dropped when the Captain left him in command. His seventh host, Roxsinda, had been a Starfleet officer who had died in 2357 in an avalanche on Enolus. She had been First Officer of the USS Triton at the time so the symbiont in him had some command experience. Gallen hadn't held command before except of a starship engine room.

However, using all of the experience of his nine lives, he sallied forward. "All right, you lot! You heard the Captain! We have a job to so let's do it so we can all be home in time for tea. Ooh, I hope it's Darjeeling!"

There were a couple of chuckles before everyone returned to their assigned tasks. One of his engineers, the same ginger-haired woman who had been assigning him since the crisis started, asked," This is gonna work, right?"

"With the lives of everyone on this ship and the Cardassian ship at risk? You bet my spots it had better work or I'm going to be really mad!"

"All of Time and Space; everywhere and anywhere; every star that ever was. Where do you want to start?"

"Geronimo!"

Thanks to FltCpt. Bossco for my Tattok avatar. This is Tattok when he assumed the position of Commander-in-Chief, Starfleet in the year 2411.

Other officers would have been embarrassed or resentful, but Mike felt nothing but relief when Captain Dawnter left Gallen in command. Mike knew this situation was way over his head - there was no pretending otherwise. Space battles, assassins, hostile boarding parties...those he could deal with. But temporal anomalies, anti-chroniton pulses, and disappearing starships? Mike was glad to have someone as qualified as Gallen Tam around at times like these.

It was Mike's job to protect the crew, but in this case he was less than useless. He was confident Tam would get them out of this - even if he was a hyperactive juvenile busybody with a pathological inability to take things seriously. He was still a good man, a good friend, and smart enough to do this. All Mike had to do was watch and be ready in case a tactical or security emergency presented itself.

"You may think you're stronger than me - and MAYBE you are - but I got something you ain't never gonna have. Heart."
-Ben Grimm, AKA The Ever-Lovin' Blue Eyed Thing

Tam saw the First Officer enter Engineering and he nodded in her direction. He was busy with getting the anti-chroniton field working and the reading that he saw didn't make him any happier. Time didn't seem to change in Engineering but according to the chronometers in other areas of the ship, it still seemed like it was even moving faster or slower.

'Why aren't the anti-chronitons that I'm pouring into the shields working? They should be strengthening the structural integrity at the same time.' The Trill was flabbergasted by the sensor readings. If the anti-chronitons weren't working... He balked at the possibilities.

'Maybe inversion with a static warp shell,' he pondered, mentally, putting formulas into the engineering computer. Tam looked over at Huxil who was working with an ensign at the structural integrity monitoring station. The Denobulan had been a student of his previous host at Starfleet Academt and despite the taboo of encountering individuals from the lives of past hosts, they had become good friends.

"Are the odds against us, Tam?," Huxil asked, walking up beside him.

"Not if I can help it. These shield algorithms and the readings from the SID sensors... they're more confusing than..."

"Than that time you were able to beam a Jem'hadar attack ship's behind them at the same time as they fired on us? The physics that you stretched on that one..."

"It was child's play compared to this, old friend. The temporal constants keep changing and... of course, temporal winds! And... and..." Tam smiled, punching more data into a padd.

"All of Time and Space; everywhere and anywhere; every star that ever was. Where do you want to start?"

"Geronimo!"

Thanks to FltCpt. Bossco for my Tattok avatar. This is Tattok when he assumed the position of Commander-in-Chief, Starfleet in the year 2411.

Amid all the confusion and commotion, Mike suddenly realized a certain Ferengi visitor had been left unattended. A quick search revealed Arlat hunched over a console in a corner of Engineering, typing away furiously.

"Arlat!" Mike shouted as he strode briskly towards the busy Ferengi.

"Whaddya at, b'y?" Mike demanded. (*See note*) As usual, his use of Newfoundland slang and his accent grew stronger the more stressed he became.

Arlat turned and looked at Mike with puzzlement and scratched his ear.

"Oh. I see. Well, as promising as Commander Tam's plan is, I thought it prudent to run a simulation to assess the chances of success."

Mike nodded. That actually made sense.

"...and?" Mike asked.

Arlat looked less than confident.

"Well," he said after a moment, "they aren't the worst odds I've ever seen."

"But?"

"They are quite close."

Mike groaned. Of course they were. Before he could say anything, though, Gallen looked in his direction and waved him over.

"What does he want now?" Mike wondered aloud. Turning to Arlat, he said, "Keep running those simulator things, just don't touch any systems you shouldn't. You got that?"

Arlat nodded.

"Good. Now stay where you're at until I comes where you're to," he said. Then he turned and walked away, leaving Arlat to puzzle over his bizarrely phrased sentence. Must be the first Newfie b'y he's ever met, Mike thought.

"Whaddya at, Gallen b'y? I know, I know, I'm on communications but I had to make sure buddy the Ferengi wasn't doin' anything he shouldn't. By the by, buddy says your plan sucks. Whaddya say to that?"

(*Notes on Newfoundland slang:
-"Whaddya at" (what are you at) means "What are you doing?" or "What's going on?"
-"B'y" (boy) is a catch-all unisex term that means the same thing as "dude." "Dude, where's my car?" would be "Where's my car to, b'y?" in Newfunese.
-"Stay where you're at until I comes where you're to" means "stay there until I get there."
And no, I'm not from Newfoundland. I just watch too much Republic of Doyle and listen to a lot of Great Big Sea.)

Last edited by KahlessOfVulcan on Mon Jul 07, 2014 2:07 pm, edited 1 time in total.

"You may think you're stronger than me - and MAYBE you are - but I got something you ain't never gonna have. Heart."
-Ben Grimm, AKA The Ever-Lovin' Blue Eyed Thing

[Sovereign come in, this is Riojj. We've been hit by a chronoton burst. The Captain's dead, shields are compromised and we'll be exposed in just over fifteen minutes. We have to execute this plan now if we're to have any hope of completing it,] she reported, her monotone never wavering, her voice never faltering.

Tam pressed the button and the aanti-chroniton field exploded around both the Sovereign and the Cardassian ship. In that moment, it almost seemed like time didn't know if it was moving forward or backwards.

Gallen fell backwards, landing on his derriere. In his mind, he was reliving it all. Each time, the symbiont was implanted, the memories that the host had before implantation and after implantation. He also experienced each of their deaths.

'No, no, I'm alive!,' he thought. 'I may be the last but I won't make Gallen resent his sacrifice!'

'I don't, ' one of his inner voices told the symbiont. Tam recognized it as Gallen's. 'None of us do, Tam. We're proud... happy... to share the adventure with you...'

Each of the inner voices in Tam, every one of them an echo or a shadow of a previous host agreed with Gallen. The symbiont, if it had a face, smiled at the honor being paid to it.

"Gallen! Gallen!," a voice shouted in his ear, shaking him.

"What? But, Mother, I don't want to go to school today. I want to stay home and make cookies with you!"

"I'm not your mother, Gallen!"

Tam opened his eyes and saw Huxil kneeled beside him. He smiked, saying," I don't know. In this light..."

The Denobulan snickered, standing up. "You're all right."

"All of Time and Space; everywhere and anywhere; every star that ever was. Where do you want to start?"

"Geronimo!"

Thanks to FltCpt. Bossco for my Tattok avatar. This is Tattok when he assumed the position of Commander-in-Chief, Starfleet in the year 2411.

Mike watched as Tam pressed the button to initiate the anti-chroniton burst. For an instant nothing happened, except Mike heard a strange buzzing in his ears, followed by something like electricity dancing across his skin. All sound faded away to a dull whisper in the background. Mike's vision dimmed and faded to black and white. He felt time slow down and stop before snapping back to its normal speed with a flash of light and a blast of intangible force that collided with Mike's chest and knocked him backwards.

Mike slammed into the wall with enough force that he felt a rib break and heard the crack of his head hitting tritanium. Mike's knees gave out and he slid to the ground, barely having time to register the pain of his injury before slipping into unconsciousness.

"You may think you're stronger than me - and MAYBE you are - but I got something you ain't never gonna have. Heart."
-Ben Grimm, AKA The Ever-Lovin' Blue Eyed Thing

The Trill checked the Human's pulse. It was weak but thready. "Michael, old chum... are you still with us?"

A barely audible moan escaped his lips.

Tam looked back at Huxil. "Report! How're we looking?"

The Denobulan checked the Game Table's sensors. "The anomaly is dissipating around us. Chroniton levels are dropping. Shields are holding at forty-two percent."

"And the shuttle?"

"Drifting under low power."

Tam looked down at McCormack before saying," Divert power from the auxiliary systems in the saucer to the tractor beam. Bring them to the nearest shuttle bay and alert Medical."

As medics arrived to treat the security chief, the Trill felt the weight of command authority on his shoulders. As Chief Engineer, he was used to the weight. As Acting Captain, it was heavier than before.

"Begin repairs and send out a distress signal," he said, looking around the Engine Room. "And I just fixed the thing."

"All of Time and Space; everywhere and anywhere; every star that ever was. Where do you want to start?"

"Geronimo!"

Thanks to FltCpt. Bossco for my Tattok avatar. This is Tattok when he assumed the position of Commander-in-Chief, Starfleet in the year 2411.

Moments later Dr. Ramak and her medical team exited the turbolift. Without questions she rushed over to the fallen chief.

" I want a head to toe analysis," she told one of the ensigns. She pulled out her tricorder and began the routine scans. The medical wand blinked continuously without finding an alert.

" His pulse is thready. Bp is 120 over 55. Neural activity is minimum at best. There's no sign of --"

" He is unconscious. I got that. Make your report brief and far from obvious," admonished Kala. " Give him Trianoline- 5cc doses every thirty minutes."

Finally, the doctor's tricorder beeped. " I am reading a bone fracture. It is near the ....." She cleared the scan with a few commands and began again.

" He has a non-displaced, transverse fracture of the fifth and sixth costal cartilage. The cartilage has separated from the ribs." Ramak slid her tricorder to the side and began to apply pressure to the rib cage.

" Begin administering the Trianoline."

[ Doctor to Sickbay. I need a bone regeneration unit A.S.A.P]

" Hang in there," she whispered to the Chief," we will repair the damage."

" He has a hairline fracture of the skull. Possible concussion," reported the ranking nurse.

" Prepare Alkysine- 6 cc doses every 45 minutes. Also, grab a sedative. He is going to need something for the pain."

A green uniform stepped off of the turbolift and dashed over to the doctor.

Tam took a sigh of relief. The shipwide sensors were showing that the chronitons were dispersing and that the anti-chronitons in the new shield matric formula were working.

He smiled at the result while feeling poorly. During the event that had pushed them out of the anomaly, the Trill had gone through an experience that replayed all of his past host's lives. He relived their every memory, their every thought, and their every experience which sent his heart pounding.

'When was my last zlin'thara?,' he wondered. 'Is it time to go back to Trill for another? Possibly my last?'

"Commander?," a familar voice asked him.

Tam sat down in a nearby chair and looked ùp at his assistant chief engineer, Lieutenant Huxil. The Denobulan appeared anxious.

"Yes, Hux? What is it now? I was being damned brilliant and you're going to tell me that you weren't impressed enough? Should I juggle te ship to impress you now?"

"Gallen... the Captain's dead..."

"By the pools of Trill, what the bloody hellmare you talking about?!" He was angry now - a new sensation brought upon by joining with the Tam symbiont. "He can't ... be... dead..."

Tears slid down his face in streams as he held his head in disbelief.

"All of Time and Space; everywhere and anywhere; every star that ever was. Where do you want to start?"

"Geronimo!"

Thanks to FltCpt. Bossco for my Tattok avatar. This is Tattok when he assumed the position of Commander-in-Chief, Starfleet in the year 2411.